1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a socket terminal in which the front ends of plural elastic contact pieces for clamping a male terminal are prevented from being misaligned in a fitting process with respect to a protection sleeve to be fitted onto the elastic contact pieces.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, as a generally used socket terminal, known is a round-pin terminal having a circular cylindrical shape and disclosed in, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. sho. 63-102182. The round-pin terminal has an excellent workability because it has no particular limitations other than the connecting direction.
As shown in FIG. 8, a terminal body 1 of a female terminal F consists of a plurality of elastic contact pieces 2 which are separated from each other in a peripheral direction by slits elongating in a longitudinal direction, a cylindrical base portion 3 onto which a protection member is to be fitted, a conductor clamping portion 4 to which an electric wire W is to be fixed, and a cover clamping portion 7. The elastic contact pieces 2 are disposed in a front part of the terminal body 1, the cylindrical base portion 3 in a middle part, and the conductor clamping portion 4 and the cover clamping portion 7 in a rear part. The terminal body 1 is formed by punching a flat conductive material and plastic-deforming the punched material into a cylindrical shape. In order to facilitate the insertion of a male terminal M, the front ends of the elastic contact pieces 2 are bent outward.
A circular cylindrical protection sleeve 5 is fitted onto the cyllindrical base portion 3, thereby protecting the elastic contact pieces 2. The sleeve 5 has a terminal insertion hole 5b at the front end. The fitting of the sleeve 5 onto the cylindrical base portion 3 is performed by inserting the elastic contact pieces 2 into the sleeve from an opening at the rear end until a stopper 3a of the cylindrical base portion 3 contacts with the opening edge of the sleeve 5. Then, the sleeve 5 is caulked against the cylindrical base portion 3 and a concave portion 5a is formed, thereby preventing the sleeve 5 from slipping off.
The male terminal M is made of a rod-like conductive material. When the connection direction is determined, the male terminal M can easily be inserted into the sleeve 5 through the terminal insertion hole 5b formed in the sleeve 5, to be clamped by the elastic contact pieces 2, with the result that the male terminal M is fitted into the female terminal body 1, thereby accomplishing an electrical connection.
In the thus configured socket terminal of the prior art, the sleeve 5 must be caulked. As shown in FIG. 9, therefore, there may arise a case where an excessive force is applied during the caulking process to the concave portion 5a to erroneously bend the sleeve 5 and the elastic contact pieces 2, so that an irregular gap 6 is formed therebetween. As a result, the terminal insertion hole 5b of the sleeve 5 is misaligned with respect to the front ends of the elastic contact pieces 2, so that, when the male terminal M is inserted into the female terminal F, the male terminal M is not properly clamped between the elastic contact pieces 2. This produces problems such as that the female terminal F is deformed, and that the terminal fitting cannot be performed properly.